diff --git a/scripts/newsletter/capture-flow.mjs b/scripts/newsletter/capture-flow.mjs
index 5100fe2b..3a3c61a4 100644
--- a/scripts/newsletter/capture-flow.mjs
+++ b/scripts/newsletter/capture-flow.mjs
@@ -22,7 +22,21 @@ export default async function flow({ goto, mark, page, pause, scrollTo }) {
   await goto(process.env.CAPTURE_TARGET_URL);
   mark('article');
 
+  // Third-party articles interrupt a scroll with a newsletter or signup modal
+  // (Medium does it partway down), which then sits over the body for the rest of
+  // the walk. Escape closes every one seen so far, and costs nothing on a page
+  // that has none, so it is pressed at each beat rather than only on arrival.
+  const dismiss = async () => {
+    await page.keyboard.press('Escape').catch(() => {});
+    await page
+      .locator('[aria-label="close" i], button[data-testid="close-button"]')
+      .first()
+      .click({ timeout: 700 })
+      .catch(() => {});
+  };
+
   await pause(1600);
+  await dismiss();
   mark('top');
 
   const depth = await page.evaluate(() => {
@@ -36,6 +50,7 @@ export default async function flow({ goto, mark, page, pause, scrollTo }) {
 
   if (depth > 200) {
     await scrollTo(depth);
+    await dismiss();
     await pause(1500);
     mark('body');
     await scrollTo(0);
diff --git a/scripts/newsletter/capture-gifs.mjs b/scripts/newsletter/capture-gifs.mjs
index b080740d..0920905c 100644
--- a/scripts/newsletter/capture-gifs.mjs
+++ b/scripts/newsletter/capture-gifs.mjs
@@ -238,6 +238,13 @@ async function capture(target, { engine, postsDir, theme, workDir }) {
     'node',
     [
       engine,
+      // Headed because headless Chromium is fingerprinted and blocked outright by
+      // some of the sites the newsletter links, and --no-root because the engine
+      // otherwise loads the site root first: wasted footage the runner trims, and
+      // on a Cloudflare-fronted site the root-then-deep-link hop is itself what
+      // trips the bot check.
+      '--headed',
+      '--no-root',
       '--url',
       target.url,
       '--flow',